Buttery, soft, and made completely from scratch, this easy homemade biscuit recipe deserves a permanent place in your recipe repertoire. This recipe is made with all butter, no shortening!
With just 6 ingredients that I bet you already have on hand, these homemade biscuits are so simple to make and I’ve included plenty of tips (and a video!) to make sure you end up with perfect biscuits every single time.
Two reasons I’m super excited to share this homemade biscuit recipe with you today:
One: because homemade biscuits are delicious (obviously) and they’re so easy to make. So many people buy the canned version without realizing that they already have all of the ingredients to make them from scratch in their pantry.
The taste of a pre-made biscuit doesn’t hold a candle to a homemade biscuit. Not. even. close. Preservatives and artificial flavors, you aren’t welcome here.
Two: because ever since I started working on this biscuit recipe a few weeks ago, “Mind Your Own Biscuits” by Kacey Musgraves has been stuck in my head and I’ve been singing it off-key relentlessly.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Kacey Musgraves and her music, but every time I start singing my dog starts actually crying. It’s sad and hilarious, and if I wasn’t so embarrassed by my terrible singing voice I would have shared a video of it by now. Hopefully, by publishing this recipe I’ll release myself from the endless refrain and the animal abuse will finally stop.
But let’s talk more about the first reason.
Homemade biscuits call for just six ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, butter, and milk. And then more butter once they’re finished baking because of course we need more butter.
I mentioned that these biscuits are easy so do not be alarmed by all the tips that I have for you below. These biscuits are easy, but technique matters and I want to arm you with all the information that you need so that you can make these easily and have them come out perfectly the very first time.
The tips are simple but important, and while some more seasoned bakers already know them, I want to give everyone an even playing field.
Tips for Making Homemade Biscuits
- The butter and milk for this recipe need to be as cold as possible for fluffy and soft biscuits. I freeze my butter before using it and recommend keeping the milk in the refrigerator right up until it’s time to add it to the dry ingredients.
- Don’t overwork the dough! Keep in mind that you want your butter to stay as cold as possible when making these biscuits, and the more you have your hands on the dough the softer the butter will become. Definitely don’t use an electric mixer for this recipe.
- We’re going to do a little bit of laminating. This means folding the dough over itself multiple times (5-6 times here) to encourage flaky layers in our biscuits. You can watch the video below to see exactly how this is done.
- Don’t use a rolling pin, use your hands to gently work the dough into a flat rectangle before cutting out your biscuits.
- Don’t be afraid to add flour to the dough if it’s too sticky while you are handling it (and make sure to work on a lightly floured surface).
Visual clue: If you look at the pre-baked biscuit below, you’ll see that you can actually see the butter pieces in the dough. This is what you want, the ingredients won’t be well-combined like with a cookie dough and seeing bits of butter means you’ve actually done everything right here. Hooray!
A Few Notes on Butter in Homemade Biscuits
The butter is possibly the most important part of this recipe, and the way you handle it can make or break your homemade biscuits.
While you can certainly use a pastry cutter to cut your butter into the dry ingredients, I recommend freezing your butter for about 30 minutes before beginning. Then, use a box grater to grate the butter before combining this in with your dry ingredients.
I use this technique in my scone recipes and highly recommend it with these biscuits, too. Not only is it much easier than using a pastry cutter, but it does a great job of finely shredding and distributing the butter throughout the mixture without overworking the butter (remember, you want to manage the butter as little as possible so that it’s as cold as possible when going into the oven).
Alternatively you could also use a food processor (like I do with my pie crust recipe), but it’s just so easy to grate in the butter that I always use this method instead.
And yes, I do recommend using unsalted butter in this recipe and then adding salt. If you want to know more about why I write my recipes this way, you can read all about it (and an easy substitution if you only have salted butter on hand) in this post that I wrote about salted vs unsalted butter.
I know I’ve mentioned to you guys a few times that I’ve been working on a baking contest/challenge/I’m really not sure what to call it, but I’m planning a post where I encourage all of you to bake along with me. The goal is to get people baking recipes they may have not tried before, and I’m encouraging everyone to share their results for a chance to win a small prize.
Well, today’s homemade biscuit recipe is essentially the base for the baking challenge that I’ll be sharing in exactly one week, so take this as a hint that making today’s recipe is a great way to get a jump start for the challenge!
To make sure you’re among the first to be notified of all new recipes and baking challenges, make sure you’re subscribed to my e-mail list. It’s free, and you get a free e-book of 8 of my favorite cookie recipes.
Enjoy!
How to Make Homemade Biscuits
I know I talked a lot in this video, but I really feel that the tips are so important, and will help ensure your biscuits come out perfectly!
Homemade Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (250g)
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter very cold (85g), unsalted European butter is ideal, but not required
- ¾ cup whole milk¹ (177ml) buttermilk or 2% milk will also work
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- For best results, chill your butter in the freezer for 10-20 minutes before beginning this recipe. It's ideal that the butter is very cold for light, flaky, buttery biscuits.
- Preheat oven to 425F and line a cookie sheet with nonstick parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon salt
- Remove your butter from the refrigerator and either cut it into your flour mixture using a pastry cutter or (preferred) use a box grater to shred the butter into small pieces and then add to the flour mixture and stir.6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- Cut the butter or combine the grated butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add milk, use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir until combined (don't over-work the dough).¾ cup whole milk¹
- Transfer your biscuit dough to a well-floured surface and use your hands to gently work the dough together. If the dough is too sticky, add flour until it is manageable.
- Once the dough is cohesive, fold in half over itself and use your hands to gently flatten layers together. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and fold in half again, repeating this step 5-6 times but taking care to not overwork the dough.
- Use your hands (do not use a rolling pin) to flatten the dough to 1" thick and lightly dust a 2 ¾" round biscuit cutter with flour.
- Making close cuts, press the biscuit cutter straight down into the dough and drop the biscuit onto your prepared baking sheet.
- Repeat until you have gotten as many biscuits as possible and place less than ½" apart on baking sheet.
- Once you have gotten as many biscuits as possible out of the dough, gently re-work the dough to get out another biscuit or two until you have at least 6 biscuits.
- Bake on 425F for 12 minutes or until tops are beginning to just turn lightly golden brown.
- If desired, brush with melted salted butter immediately after removing from oven. Serve warm and enjoy.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Penny likes to supervise the photography process. Fortunately, this setup got her vote of approval.
Kaeri
Have to agree with everyone else. Made these this am, got 4 large and 1 small out of the batch. The large were GIANT, lol. They made amazing breakfast sandwiches (juusssttt firm enough to hold up without crumbling) but I would definitely make six next time, it’s clear it makes six generous biscuits! (And really good biscuits, fluffy and flaky and crumbly and delicious.)
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Kaeri! 🙂
Samantha
Can I make the dough ahead of time and store it in the fridge overnight?
Sam
Hi Samantha! That will be fine! I would recommend cutting out the biscuit shapes and then wrapping them tightly or storing them in an air tight container in the refrigerator. 🙂
April
Great recipe! Super easy. We ended up using the kitchen aid mixer instead of our hands and also used half and half because its what we had on hand. Turned out great!
April
Oh and we added some shredded sharp cheddar – yum!
Sam
I love the addition of cheddar cheese. 🙂
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, April! 🙂
Melanie Clauson
These were very, very good. Have found that making biscuits in the past never turned out, but these were easy and very tasty. Thank you for the recipe.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Melanie! 🙂
israel jeronimo
Awesome recipe to do with children, my daughter always helps and tgey come out really well!! Thanks for Sharing!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoys them so much! 🙂
Wicche
Can the dough be frozen prior to baking and if so for how long
Sam
The dough can be frozen for several months before being baked. 🙂
Christin
Is there any way to prepare these beforehand? Like night before, and put them in the freezer?
Sam
Hi Christin! Yes you can prepare in advance, if it’s just the night before I would just store in an airtight container in the fridge and they will bake perfectly for you. Enjoy!
cheryl
Forgot to buy biscuits at the store. Had to resort to looking for “how to make homemade biscuits. Thank god for forgetfulness. These were so simple to make and so good. Never buying store bought biscuits again.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Cheryl! 🙂
Lia
This is the first time I made biscuits and I couldn’t be happier with the way they turned out! I used buttermilk and grated the butter (I don’t have a pastry cutter) and they puffed up and have great layers. The first few that I cut before reworking the dough definitely came out the best, but even the ones I pieced together from scraps (why waste the dough?) are tender, although not nearly as puffed up.
Sam
I’m so happy you enjoyed, Lia! Thank you so much for letting me know how the recipe turned out for you, I appreciate it! 🙂
Lindsey
These came out great! I made them a little early. I’m wondering how a quick reheat in the oven would go? Any thoughts on storing for a couple hours before dinner?
Sam
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Lindsey! Just don’t heat them too long or they will be dry, but a quick reheat should be fine. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Alyssa
I made these last night and my family went crazy for them! I am making more this morning and doubling the recipe.Thanks for the recipe!
Sam
You’re very welcome, Alyssa! So glad everyone enjoyed 🙂
Misty
Can you use salted butter?
Sam
Yes, just reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/2 teaspoon 🙂
Leticia Limon
Ive used this recipe a couple of times and my family loves these biscuits! I double the recipe with no problems im excited to add these to the thanksgiving menu.. Thanks you for sharing the recipe!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoy them so much, Leticia! 🙂
Dana
I don’t have a biscuit cutter. Can I just cut them into squares with a knife?
Sam
Definitely! The same “rule” applies regarding pressing straight down with the knife and not “sawing” for the tallest biscuits possible. Enjoy!
Michele
I use a glass – usually a wine glass since they are a little thinner.
Stacey Gebler
Hi Sam! Preparing to make these biscuits tonight and am excited to give them a try. I don’t have a biscuit cutter– is it okay if I just slice them and bake them in square shape? I’m assuming it shouldn’t impact the flavor/taste but this is my first time making biscuits so I wanted to double check. Thank you!!
Sam
Hi Stacey! Yes that’s totally fine, just keep in mind that the same “rule” applies regarding pressing straight down with the knife and not “sawing” for the tallest biscuits possible. Enjoy!